MR,  RICHMOND'S  REPLY 


"STATEMENT" 

F  THE  LATE  BISHOP  OF  NEW  YORK. 


None  can  ruin  a  man,  except  himself". 


"  And  shame  it  is,  if  that  a  preest  take  kepe, 
To  see  a  shotten  shepherd,  and  clene  shepe : 
Wei  ought  a  preest  ensample  tor  to  yeve, 
By  his  cienenesse,  how  his  shepe  shulde  live.'" 


NEW-YORK: 
BURGESS,  STRINGER  AND  COMPANY'. 


TO  THE 


1845. 


Htbrts 


SEYMOUR  DURST 


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MR.  RICHMOND'S  REPLY,  ETC, 


If  the  sentence  of  the  Ecclesiastical  Court  had  been  met 
with  becoming  submission  on  the  part  of  the  late  Bishop  of 
New  York  and  his  friends  ;  nay,  had  the  Bishop  alone  de- 
fended himself,  silence  would  have  been  my  choice.  For  I 
would  not  blame  a  man  about  to  be  hanged,  though  he  should 
strenuously  resist  the  tightening  of  the  noose  around  his  neck; 
nor  would  any  one  censure  him  for  endeavoring  to  escape, 
after  having  been  so  galvanized  by  his  friends,  that  he  might 
almost  fancy  himself  recovering  from  the  paralysis  into  which 
the  too  feeble  hand  of  the  law  had  thrown  him.  In  short,  had 
the  poor  Bishop  been  left  to  defend  himself,  we  could  forgive 
him  for  his  misstatements ;  and  I,  for  one,  would  be  content 
to  overlook  even  those  mistakes  or  falsehoods,  which,  under 
other  circumstances,  it  is  thought  incumbent  on  every  man  to 
answer,  lest  his  silence  should  warrant  some  suspicion  of  their 
truth.  With  the  Bishop  I  never  was  at  war,  but  with  his 
deeds ;  and  how  well  had  it  been  for  him  and  for  us,  had  his  own 
warfare  with  those  deeds  been  far  greater  than  mine !  Before 
he  was  tried,  I  counted  him  more  worthy  to  be  blamed  than 
pitied  ;  but  after  his  sentence  I  deemed  him  "  more  entitled  to 
pity  than  blame."  Let  it  not  be  forgotten,  amid  the  hue  and 
cry  which  is  now  raised  about  "  conspiracies,  malice,  vindic- 
tiveness,  party  vengeance,"  and  other  misnomers,  I  say  let  it 
never  be  forgotten,  that  the  Bishop  has  ruined  himself,  and 
that  all  the  machinery  which  is  most  falsely  said  to  have  been 
employed  against  him,  would,  like  arrows  shot  against  a  rock, 
have  rebounded  upon  "the  conspirators,"  if  applied  to  most 
of  the  other  bishops.  And  even  now,  I  would  silently  bear 
the  numerous  injurious  insinuations  and  direct  attacks  made 
against  myself,  were  it  not  also  attempted,  in  order  to  save 
one  guilty  man,  to  involve  in  a  common,  but  impossible  de- 
struction, every  person  who  has  so  much  as  dared  to  lift  a 
hand  or  stir  a  foot  in  his  righteous  prosecution,  slow  and 
deliberate  presentment,  long,  careful,  and  impartial  trial, 
and  in  a  sentence  whose  tenderness  astonishes  the  world. 


2  mr.  Richmond's  reply,-  etc. 

But  the  characters  of  christian  witnesses,  and  blameless* 
bishops,  must  not  be  sported  with  and  bandied  about  with 
impunity. 

Yet  all  this  were  insufficient  to  move  my  pen  again,  did  I 
not  plainly  foresee  the  end  of  the  effort  already  begun,  viz  : 
to  place  the  old  crosier  in  the  same  polluted  grasp  once 
more.  /  now,  therefore,  declare  that  that  end  never  can  be 
reached  while  justice  shall  live.  Unless  the  Bishop  resign, 
or  is  by  some  other  means  displaced  from  the  Episcopal 
seat  which  he  has  dishonored  more  than  we  are  yet  willing  to 
tell,  he  will  be  tried  again.  Let  his  friends  beware  then  ; 
for  they  seem,  even  yet,  to  have  no  idea  of  the  irresistible 
power  of  truth ;  and  let  them  not  push  me  forward  into  a 
statement  of  case  after  case  of  such  delinquencies  as  will 
quickly  degrade  a  suspended  Bishop. 

But  the  whole  affair  is  one  of  the  most  marvellous  on  record. 
Who  ever  yet  heard  an  innocent  clergyman,  so  accused,  when 
the  whole  world  did  not  seem  ready  forthwith  to  open  upon 
him  like  blood-hounds  ?  Why  ?  Because  his  innocency  of 
life  is  to  them  a  standing  rebuke.  But  here  is  a  notorious 
case  of  convicted  guilt,  and  the  congenial  judges,  newspapers, 
priests  and  laymen  seem  not  only  disposed  to  defend,  but 
sympathetically  to  urge  the  acquittal  of  the  condemned  crimi- 
nal ;  and  that,  too,  in  the  face  of  their  own  sentence,  sermons, 
and  pseudo-declarations  of  high-Churchism  and  submission  to 
Episcopal  authority !  Verily,  their  doctrine  of  obedience 
tallies  with  their  practice  of  contumacy,  as  this  very  Bishop's 
sermon  on  the  duty  of  Fasting  in  Lent,  agreed  with  the  fat 
viands  and  good  wines  at  his  Ash- Wednesday  dinner  !  We 
recommend  this  fact  to  three  or  four  correspondents  in  the 
Churchman,  whose  talk  on  "  sackcloth  and  ashes"  is  just  about 
as  near  to  their  daily  life.  Perhaps  one  of  the  command- 
ments might  be  as  constantly  read  to  the  people,  and  also  broken. 
What  sermons,  essays,  &c,  (never  signed  with  the  initials, 
B.  T.  O.,  till  of  late,)  are  now  put  forth  with  the  very  reasonable 
expectation  of  deceiving  the  vulgar  with  mere  words !  We 
are  also  bidden,  in  good  sooth,  to  wait  for  the  publication  of 
the  testimony,  in  order  that  the  mob  may  pass  an  "  intelligent 
judgment"  on  a  case  already  settled  by  the  ultimate  tribunal  ! 

There  is  another  thought  which  has  occupied  me  much  of 
late.  It  is  this.  Not  a  single  individual  has  moved  in  this 
matter,  especially  against  the  late  dignitary,  who  has  had 
one  right  motive  ascribed  to  him  by  the  other  side.  Now, 
knowing  this  trait  of  humanity  beforehand,  I  made  no  asser- 


sift.  Kiohmond's  reply,  etc. 


5 


tiohs,  in  the  first  pamphlet,  about  my  own  motives,  conscience, 
feelings,  duty,  etc.  I  omitted  all  this  designedly ;  for  I  knew 
very  well  that  if  these  were  all  as  pure  as  heaven,  not  one 
of  the  depraved  sons  of  men  on  the  other  side,  (and  thereby 
the  sons  of  men  prove  their  depravity,)  would  give  me  credit 
for  any  but  the  worst  and  lowest  motives.  The  event  has 
proved  me  correct.  The  Rev.  Paul  Trapier  wrote  his  State- 
ment like  a  Christian,  and  it  has  been  unmercifully  abused 
and  torn  to  pieces.  Of  course  I  mean  all  this  has  been  feebly 
attempted.  I  wrote  mine  like  a  man,  intending  it  to  act  as  a 
deserved  castigation,  and  though  so  insignificant  that  it  sold 
(as  one  of  the  papers  has  it,)  at  the  rate  of  some  thousand  a 
day,  it  has,  on  the  whole,  commanded  that  respectful  deference 
which  a  pupil  pays  to  his  master's  horsewhip. 

But  suppose  now,  as  to  motives,  I  should  say  something 
which  is  really  true  :  i.  e.  that  I  never  would  have  connected 
myself  with  this  sad  affair,  had  I  not  felt  that  all  temporal 
dignities  and  honors  are  unspeakably  less  than  nothing,  when 
compared  with  the  salvation  of  an  immortal  soul;  that  I 
firmly  believed,  while  on  the  Episcopal,  and  all  but  Papal 
throne  lately  occupied,  one  was  on  the  road  to  eternal  ruin ; 
and  that,  if  displaced,  he  might  become  a  penitent  old  man 
yet,  and  come  and  sue  with  suitable  humility  some  obscure 
parish  priest,  whose  family  he  had  attempted  to  dishonor,  for 
permission  to  be  received  into  Communion  again*  as  the  re- 
pentant emperor,  Theodosius,  stood  bare-foot  at  the  door  of  the 
Cathedral  and  supplicated  Ambrose  to  admit  him  within  those 
holy  precincts,  which  by  sin  he  had  dishonored.  I  repeat, 
suppose  I  should  say  this  ;  how  high  would  the  city  have  to 
stretch  her  mind  before  she  could  comprehend  it,  to  say  no- 
thing of  her  believing  it  ?  Or  what  if  I  should  assert,  that  J 
once  actually  counted  my  own  motives  to  be  pure  and  sin- 
cere, until  I  remembered  the  Scripture,  "  the  heart  is  deceit- 
ful ?"  Now,  therefore,  if  this  Scripture  be  true,  I  cannot 
judge  my  own  motives,  and  since  it  is  absolutely  certain  that 
no  one  else  can  know  them,  I  shall  leave  them  here,  as  I  left 
them  there,  unexplained.  But  hundreds  have  heard  me  speak 
in  this  manner  ;  and  Dr.  Milnor  had  a  note  from  me,  in 
which  I  say,  "  May  not  degradation  save  his  soul  V  Besides, 
it  has  always  been  true,  since  I  was  first  compelled  to  do  my 
duty,  that  I  have  looked  back  upon  many  acts  of  my  life  with 
unmingled  joy,  but  upon  this  with  a  full  conviction  of  its 
necessity,  yet  with  such  pain  as  made  me  often  exclaim, 


i 


mr.  Richmond's  REfLY,  etc. 


"The  times  are  out  of  joint,  0  cursed  spite, 
That  I  was  ever  born  to  set  them  right." 

Not  with  more  earnest  desire  did  that  unfortunate  prince, 
who  felt  bound  to  avenge  a  father's  bloody  fate  on  the  guilty 
usurper,  look  back  to  the  cloistered  studies  of  Wittemberg, 
than  I  looked  to  the  retirement  of  the  delightful  cottage,  the 
study,  the  books,  the  prattlers,  and  the  missionary  labors  in 
Rhode  Island,  from  the  stormy  sea  of  excitement  into  which 
the  loud  and  distinct  voice  of  stern  and  unflinching  duty  called 
me.  Believe  it,  misrepresent  it,  laugh  at  it,  it  is  nevertheless 
true  ;  and  though  Sparta  has  a  hundred  better  sons,  yet  it  is 
equally  true  that  she  has  lately  had  but  one  who  was  willing 
to  offer  his  head  for  the  salvation  of  the  followers  of  the  false 
Prophet ;  and  but  one  who  was  bold  enough  to  do  just  what 
I  have  done.  I  yield  them  the  palm  in  learning,  in  genius,  in 
talent, in  eloquence  of  pen  and  tongue,  above  all,  in  goodness* 
in  almost  every  quality ; — but  in  self-devotion,  and  in  moral 
courage,  (as  they  call  it,  for  to  me  it  seems  nothing,)  I  believe 
neither  enemies  nor  friends  will  deny  it  to  me.  I  follow  a 
great  example,  when  "  I  speak  as  a  fool."  I  am  perfectly 
aware  in  what  manner  all  that  I  have  now  said  will  be  dis- 
torted and  misrepresented  by  enemies,  and  strangers  to  me. 
But  I  have  this  comfort :  my  enemies,  who  are  acquainted 
with  me,  will  outwardly  abuse  what  they  internally  confess  to 
be  true ;  and  for  strangers  I  do  not  write.  But  let  me  now 
address  myself  more  directly  to 

An  Answer  to  some  Misstatements  by  the  Bishop  and  others. 

The  Bishop  at  the  commencement  of  his  address  (which  I 
reply  to,  be  it  remembered,  only  on  account  of  his  unwise  and 
contumacious  upholders,)  observes,  the  proceedings  of  his  last 
convention  afforded  "a  very  special  proof  of  the  kindest  feel- 
ings of  confidence  and  affection  on  the  part  of  the  clergy  and 
laity  of  the  diocese  towards  their  Bishop."  Why  then  did 
they  vote  for  principles,  80  to  20  with  him ;  but  on  his  salary 
no  vote  could  be  obtained? 

He  complains  of  receiving  no  "  warning  caution  or  admo- 
nition." Did  not  Bishop  Brownell  admonish  him  years  ago  ? 
Did  not  the  Rev.  Dr.  Milnor  administer  to  him  a  most  sharp 
and  severe  rebuke  in  the  case  of  the  meek,  mild,  forgiving, 
and  now,  for  those  very  qualities,  the  abused  Mr.  Beare  ? 
Indeed,  perhaps  there  never  was  an  individual  in  whom  the 


mr.  Richmond's  reply,  etc. 


5 


words  of  Solomon  were  more  fully  verified,  "  He  that  being 
often  reproved  hardeneth  his  neck,  shall  suddenly  be  destroyed, 
and  that  without  remedy  ;"  for  this  Scripture,  "  Pride  goeth 
before  destruction,  and  a  haughty  spirit  before  a  fall,"  would 
be  perhaps  quite  as  apt  a  quotation  when  applied  to  the  anony- 
mous writers  in  the  Churchman,  as  to  him  who  once  settled 
laymen  with  a  Papal  mace. 

Let  it  be  clearly  understood,  that  I  have  always  mentioned 
the  Bishop  of  Connecticut,  in  order  to  show  how  sorrowfully, 
against  his  friend,  yet  how  surely  also,  against  what  is  called 
his  party,  he  was  compelled  to  listen  to  the  voice  of  truth.  It 
defends  him  too,  against  the  most  abusive  anonymous  para- 
graph that  ever  came  from  the  muddy  banks  of  a  filthy  stream. 
"  Apud  Salices  Lyra  ?"  A  harp  upon  the  willows  ?  indeed !  Say 
rather,  a  croaker  from  the  bulrushes  ;  for,  let  it  be  noted,  this 
estimable  and  learned  and  blameless  Bishop  has  ever  been  in 
high  favor  with  the  Churchman,  for  his  unyielding  church 
principles  and  his  steady  hand  as  a  champion,  until,  Tbrsooth  ! 
he  too,  venerable  alike  for  years  and  discretion,  and  ever, 
from  his  boyhood  upward,  a  peace-maker,  he  too  must  perish, 
if  his  verdict,  under  conscience,  disagree  with  the  Papal 
thunders  of  that  weekly  sheet,  which  is  determined  to  pull 
down  ruin  upon  itself,  as  well  as  attempt  it  upon  all  its  op- 
posers.  I  made  a  fair  contract  to  be  still,  if  they  would ;  but 
they  will  not ;  and  in  the  battle  I  shall  most  assuredly  gain 
the  victory.  The  cowards  !  how  valiantly  they  shoot  from 
behind  their  anonymous  wall !  ever  leaving  us  in  doubt  whe- 
ther half  the  articles  written  for  the  Bishop's  own  paper,  in 
the  Bishop's  defence,  do  not  emanate  directly  Irom  the  Bishop's 
pen.  At  any  rate,  he  reads,  commends  and  amends  them  all. 
I  have  some  secrets  on  hand  about  the  Bishop's  newspaper, 
"  official  organ,"  I  believe  they  call  it,  which  I  shall  not  tell 
till  I  am  pretty  severely  goaded  with  its  praise. 

By  a  process  of  logic  akin  to  that  of  "  Apud  Salices  Lyra,"  i.  e. 
the  Frog  from  the  Bulrushes,  I  should  also  cut  off',  as  a  judge, 
New-Jersey,  because  he  lived  during  the  very  trial  in  the 
house  of  the  accused  ;  Western  New- York,  because  his  home 
is  in  the  Bishop's  old  Diocese  ;  North  Carolina,  because  he 
spends  half  his  time  in  the  "  great  city,"  (great  Sodom  !)  and 
would  gladly  be  on  friendly  terms  with  the  Pope  ;  South 
Carolina,  because  he  lives  too  far  off  to  know  much  about  it ; 
Maryland,  because  he  is  a  staunch  advocate  for  the  same 
strong  church  doctrines  (by  the  way  the  whole  six  are  of  one 
party,  which,  mark  !  is  not  the  case  with  the  eleven) ;  and  the 


mr.  Richmond's  reply,  etc. 


North-West,  because  he  has  since  doubted  about  his  vote. 
Observe,  this  episode  is  only  to  shew  how  easily  the  tables 
are  turned  on  such  an  absurd  Rana,  and  the  most  absurd 
reasons  have  been  intentionally  chosen.  I  could  make  quite  a 
pretty  book  out  of  the  twistiftcations  which  have  recently 
bloomed  in  the  Bishop's  weekly  ; — weakly  it  will  be,  soon 
enough,  if  it  gives  room  to  many  such  sad  sounds  from  the 
rushes. 

Must  I  defend  Bishop  Meade  too  ?  No,  let  his  unassailable 
life  defend  him  !  Would  I  could  say  so  of  all  the  men  who 
cried,  '*  not  guilty"  and  then  all  but  hung,  they  did  "  suspend" 
the  guiltless,  Let  that  fact  be  written  with  a  pen  of  iron  on 
the  rock  of  Justice,  to  be  obliterated  never  !  No  statement  of 
the  minority  can  weigh  a  feather  against  it,  forever. 

It  would  be  folly  to  batter  down  again  that  absurd  "  con- 
spiracy" card-house  which  the  Metropolitan  attempts  to 
build  up,  (after  its  double  overthrow,)  by  shewing  that 
the  whole  of  the  Bishop's  declaration  about,  me,  on  that 
score,  is  either  untrue  or  exaggerated.  Let  it  not  be  for- 
gotten that  in  all  conversations  where  only  two  of  us  were 
present,  I  shall  insist  upon  my  right,  arising  from  the  fact 
that  I  never  have  been  proved  guilty  of  "  telling  stories" 
My  "  erratic  peculiarities"  I  gratefully  admit,  and  thank  my 
stars  !  that  I  am  not  so  hum-drum  as  most  other  people,  who 
walk  with  pious  care  in  their  forefathers'  steps,  just  as  some 
farmers  always  plant  their  potatoes  in  the  old  way,  because  it 
was  good  enough  for  their  grandfathers.  Now  I  remember, 
in  a  representation  of  all  the  poets,  the  great  German  master 
makes  them  walk  in  two  columns,  treading  exactly  each  in 
the  steps  of  the  foremost,  but  in  the  midst,  with  nobody  before, 
and  nobody  behind  him,  saunters  one  along,  pretty  much  at 
his  leisure,  and  taking  his  own  course,  without  asking  anybody 
jn  the  two  columns  to  shew  him  the  way  ;  and  lest  some  lite- 
rary dandy  should  undertake  to  say  that  I  am  disposed 

Magna  componere  parvis, 

I  will  not  tell  him  who  the  bard  was,  but  send  him  to  Goethe, 
(I  mean  a  translation,  for  him,)  to  find  out,  in  Wilhelm  Meister, 
that  poet's  name. 

The  bishop,  in  his  "  Statement,"  says, "  Mr.  Richmond  had  but 
a  few  weeks  before,  called  on  me,  and  expressed  a  warm  de- 
sire to  return  to  my  diocese,  that  he  might  be  my  friend  and 
gtand  by  me  in  my  troubles.** 

First,  be  it  remarked,  when  the  General  Convention 


mr.  Richmond's  reply,  etc. 


7 


heard  from  me  on  this  subject,  (Oct.  14)  I  had  been,  not  a  "  few 
weeks"  but  actually  three  months  employed  under  Bishop  Hen- 
shaw's  appointment,  as  missionary  for  the  diocese  of  Rhode 
Island. 

He  has  also  mingled  my  call  upon  him  July  4th,  (it  will  fix 
this  point  in  his  memory,  if  I  mention  that  I  informed  him  the 
Washington  Hall  was  then  burning,)  with  another  call  in  Au- 
gust or  September  which  I  made,  after  a  conference  with 
Clarence  Walworth  in  reference  to  my  duty  of  preaching  in 
the  German  language  to  the  church-less  and  almost  God-less 
Germans  that  assemble  around  Tompkins  Square.  On  the 
last  visit,  I  said  not  a  word  that  could  be  tortured  into  an  im- 
plication of  a  shade  of  a  wish  to  "  return  to  his  diocese."  On 
the  contrary,  after  saying  that  I  was  desirous  of  preaching  to 
the  Germans,  and  felt  that  I  was  bound  to  do  so  by  my  ordi- 
nation vow,  'to  seek  for  Christ's  sheep  that  are  scattered  in  this 
naughty  world/  and  that  it  was  not  through  duty,  as  I  previously 
told  C.  W.,but  for  courtesy,  that  I  waited  on  him,  having  already, 
not  only  a  privilege  but  an  obligation  thus  to  officiate,  with  the 
consent  of  the  nearest  rector  or  rectors  ;  he  asked,  on  my  refer- 
ence to  the  Catholic  Oak,  and  what  was  there  accomplished, 
"My  friend,  if  you  are  doing  so  much  good  in  Rhode  Island, 
why  not  remain  there  ?"  I  replied,  *  I  intend  to  do  so ;  but  having 
one  spare  Sunday,  I  thought  it  would  be  best  to  help  you  and 
begin  here  ;  then,  the  people  who  wish  to  talk,  can  spend  as 
much  of  the  winter  as  they  like,  in  discussing  the  merits  of 
the  movement,  and  the  question  of  my  sanity,  pro  and  con, 
and  by  next  summer  they  will  be  tired  of  the  talk,  and  when 
I  come  again,  it  will  be  an  old  story,  and  the  ice  will  have 
been  effectually  broken,  and  the  way  prepared  for  others.' 
He  wittily  replied,  "  I  am  afraid,  my  friend ,  it  would  freeze 
over  again  this  winter."  Now  I  meet  wit  so  seldom  in 
the  world,  that  I  like  to  give  it  free  course  when  it  comes; 
and  when  one  says  a  witty  thing,  one  does  not  love  to  have  it 
go  for  nothing,  so  I  waited  a  moment,  weighing  and  appreci- 
ating the  bon  mot,  and  then  replied  nearly  thus,  in  my  stupid 
way,  "  Bishop,  the  ice  is  of  long  standing  ;  the  neglect  of  the 
poor  is  old  and  crusty,  and  do  you  not  think  by  breaking  it  up 
once  now,  the  new  ice  would  break  more  easily  next  summer?" 
I  have  been  thus  particular  in  order  to  show  two  things, 
First,  that  the  Bishop's  memory  on  the  two  calls  seems  less 
tenacious  (though  he  really  has  a  capital  memory  on  some 
subjects,)  than  mine  ;  and  secondly,  because  I  am  now  going 
to  make  a  statement,  which  directly  contradicts  his  account  of 


8 


mr.  Richmond's  reply,  etc. 


the  interview  on  the  morning  of  July  4th.  I  never  expressed 
"  a  warm  desire,"  nor  any  desire  to  "  return  to  his  diocese." 
The  very  first  words  (after  salutations,  &c.)  were  abruptly, 
"Bishop,  would  you  like  to  have  me  in  your  diocese?"  It 
would  be  natural  enough  if  a  bishop  to  whom  I  was  a  stran- 
ger, should  think  that  this  expressed  a  warm  desire  to  return 
to  his  diocese  ;  but  one  who  knew  me  as  well  as  that  digni- 
tary, and  to  whom  I  said  a  moment  afterwards,  "  Bishop,  you 
know  that,  whether  I  be  nothing  or  something,  I  am  yet  driv- 
en to  the  conclusion  that  I  am,  without  intending  it,  unique, 
or  by  myself:"  I  say  such  an  one  might  have  understood 
that  the  words  could  mean  something  else  ;  for  I  was  that  mo- 
ment trying  to  get  an  opportunity  to  caution  him  in  such  a 
way  as  a  presbyter  may  caution  a  bishop.  Now  mark :  I 
have  been  often  blamed  for  not  having  gone  to  him  and  pri- 
vately advised  him  like  a  brother  ;  and  yet  I  am  well  satisfied 
that  the  very  same  consistent  people  who  have  said  that  I 
ought  to  have  done  this,  will  now  cry  out,  "  Shame  upon  the 
presumption  which  could  think  that  a  presbyter,  under  any 
circumstances,  might  admonish  a  bishop  !"  Such  is  the  con- 
sistency of  these  schismatics. 

But  if  any  man  thinks  it  easy  privately  to  admonish  a  dig- 
nitary, before  bringing  him  to  trial,  I  will  simply  say,  that 
man  is  bolder  than  J,  or  has  never  tried ;  and  that  the  nearest 
approach  I  could  then  make  was  this,  "  Bishop,  I  am  nothing, 
and  you  are  in  a  high  station ;  but  are  you  aware  that  it  is  in 
my  power  to  render  you  more  service  than  any  presbyter?" 
I  had  not  the  least  intention  of  saying  that  /  would  render  it, 
but  wished  to  lead  him  to  ask,  "  What  do  you  mean,  sir  V*  as 
an  innocent  man  would  ask  after  an  emphatic,  (by  look  and 
gesture)  significant  expression  of  this  kind ;  and  then,  I  should 
have  told  him  the  whole.    But  he  blushed,  and  was  silent. 

The  bishop  must  remember  that  I  said  expressly  I  would 
not  take  such  a  parish  as  Mechanicsville,  and  I  am  sorry  to 
be  obliged  to  add  that  he  also  said,  "  there  are  no  vacancies 
beside  in  the  diocese."  How  many  vacancies  were  there  in 
the  diocese  on  July  4th  ?  for  the  next  week  or  sooner  I  went 
to  visit  my  friends  in  Troy,  and  found  St.  John's  church  was 
and  had  been,  long  vacant ;  but  I  really  had  so  cold  a  desire 
of  being  in  his  diocese,  that  I  did  not  move  a  finger  towards 
inquiring  into  the  condition  or  prospects  of  that  eligible  par- 
ish. Nevertheless,  most  of  my  friends  in  that  region  know 
that  Troy  is,  in  my  estimation,  one  of  the  favored  spots  of 


mr.  Richmond's  reply,  etc. 


9 


the  earth,  and  that  I  count  it  one  of  the  most  desirable  resi- 
dences in  this  country. 

In  addition,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Ward,  now,  or  recently,  of  Rhode 
Island,  remembers  that  when  he  requested  me  to  call  with  him 
on  the  bishop  of  New- York,  then  on  a  visit  at  the  house  of  A. 
Duncan  Esq.,  in  Providence,  at  the  time  Dr.  Henshaw  was 
consecrated  (June  1843)  I  absolutely  refused  to  show  any  civil- 
ity, in  my  native  city,  to  a  man  whom  but  a  month  before  I  had 
found  to  be  so  guilty.  As  bishop,  in  New-York,  I  might 
call  on  him  ;  but  in  my  own  home  I  wished  it  to  be  under- 
stood, that  I  could  not  let  myself  down  to  visit  him.  I  have 
often  said,  I  should  be  sorry  to  be  in  his  diocese,  and  to  this, 
there  are  many  witnesses  in  Rhode  Island,  whose  word  is  fully 
equal  to  that  of  him  who  mingles  visits,  forgets,  calls  three 
months  a  "  few  weeks,"  and  states  there  "  are  no  vacancies"  in 
his  diocese. 

His  second  charge,  is  that  I  have  expressed  myself  hostile 
to  him  on  account  of  the  letter  to  the  Archbishop  of  Canter- 
bury. This  I  before  denied,  and  again  deny  :  and  challenge 
him  or  any  man  to  produce  places  and  persons. 

On  leaving  his  door  I  said  to  myself,  *  you  do  not  wish  me 
in  your  diocese  ;  but  I  can't  have  you  in  yours.' 

As  to  the  charge  of  hostility  against  him  on  account  of  the 
Germans  in  Tompkins  Square,  that  was  a  month  or  two  later  ; 
and  I  had  then  made  up  my  mind  to  procure  his  presentment 
as  soon  as  possible.  Of  course,  I  was  no  longer  so  guarded 
in  what  I  said,  as  I  had  been,  after  my  arrival  from  Eng- 
land, "  not  to  speak  evil  of  dignities,"  through  personal  mo- 
tives. I  had  this  advice  in  a  letter  from  a  presbyter-friend, 
resolved  to  abide  by  it,  and  kept  my  resolution.  It  is  not 
"speaking  evil"  to  tell  the  truth  in  matters  that  nearly  con- 
cern the  welfare  of  the  Church.  Besides,  the  bishop  says 
in  his  letter  to  the  three  presenters,  "  you  have  thus  been  the 
means  of  creating  the  public  rumor  :"  (and  so  elsewhere.)  Can 
he  really  be  thus  deceived?  Does  he  not  know  that  it  is  a  cur- 
rent opinion  that  these  old  rumors,  or  rather  some  known 
facts,  were  one  moving  cause  which  hastened  the  separation  of 
Western  New-York,  where  his  conduct  has  been  yet  more 
exceptionable,  from  the  ancient  diocese  ?  Where  is  the  pres- 
byter who  walked  on  the  banks  of  the  Hudson,  and  rela- 
ted to  a  fellow  clergyman  that  gross  insult  to  his 
family,  (worse  than  any  on  the  trial,)  which  will  yet  be 
dragged  to  the  light,  unless  all  parties  make  up  their  minds  to 
abandon  so  forlorn  a  hope  as  this  man's  restoration  ?  Where 


10 


mr.  Richmond's  reply,  etc. 


is  the  lady  in  Bond-street  who  related  to  me  her  daughter's 
refusal  to  be  confirmed  these  four  years  ?  Where  the  bevy 
of  young  ladies  on  Long  Island  who  declared,  if  the  spiritual 
father  was  coming,  they  could  escape  by  wearing  dresses  high 
in  the  neck  ?  Must  we  be  compelled,  as  it  seems  to  be  intend- 
ed, to  dig  out  the  whole  of  this  ditch?  Where  is  the  other 
young  lady  on  York  Island,  who  long  refused  to  be  confirm- 
ed, and  at  last  actually  tittered,  as  she  went  up,  at  the  sad  and 
yet  ludicrous  idea,  that  he  might  make  a  mistake,  through  old 
habit  ?  Where  are  the  "  butterflies,"  whom  he  chased  about 
in  a  garden  not  a  hundred  miles  from  the  city?  Where 
the  Quaker  lady,  whro,  visiting  a  family  in  Philadelphia, 
where  I  was  kindly  entertained  a  week  afterwards,  and 
before  any  communication  had  been  held  with  me,  de- 
declared  "  we  have  a  very  bad  bishop  in  New-York  too  ; 
for  when  the  young  ladies  see  him  coming,  along  the  North 
River,  if  alone,  they  run  ?"  &c.  &c.  &c,  for  this  is  enough 
for  one  pamphlet.  Let  us  wait  and  see  if  I  must  write 
a  third  statement.  It  depends  altogether  upon  the  beha- 
vior of  the  other  side,  for  I  here  renew  my  agreement  to  be 
silent,  if  they  are.  I  promised  a  presbyter  to  suppress  my 
first  pamphlet  if  he  would  suppress  the  "official  organ."  But 
I  like  my  friend,  Dr.  Seabury,  so  well,  and  (if  he  really  does 
not  believe  what  is  proved,  which  is  hardly  credible,  he  be- 
haves so  nobly,  through  "  personal  friendship,"  that  I  have  a 
very  strong  desire  to  let  him  off  tenderly  ;  but  he  suffers  his 
correspondents  to  put  too  many  mad  pranks  in  his  paper,  of 
late.  He  would  do  much  more  by  denying  that  case  of  ine- 
briation which  I  threw  out  in  pamphlet  No.  1,  and  putting  me 
to  the  proof :  for  if  he  could  make  out  that  I  am  wrong  in 
that  case,  it  would  go  much  farther  than  twenty  beautiful,  af- 
fectionate, un-Catholic,  authority-resisting,  "  reserve"-built, 
lugubrious  sermons,  shewing  how  a  man  can  externally  "  bow 
with  submission"  to  the  sentence  of  the  Bishops  which  in  his 
mind  "  has  not  the  weight  of  a  feather  ! !"  A  submission,  this, 
of  the  body  without  a  soul !  Glorious,  primitive,  Catholic 
doctrine  !  O  what  fun  the  erudite  doctor  would  make  of  such 
a  sermon  if  it  had  been  preached  and  printed  on  the  other  side  ! 
It  makes  a  wonderful  difference  whether  the  resistance  ema- 
nate from  six  bishops  or  from  fourteen  ;  especially,  forsooth  ! 
when  the  six  are  "very  learned,  able  men"!  Why,  the  single 
Bishop  of  Vermont  is  actually  more  accomplished  than  the 
six  together.    We  should  make  sad  work  of  some  of  the  six 

if  we  began  to  balance  them  off  against  the  fourteen. 
•  ***•*« 


mr.  Richmond's  reply,  etc. 


11 


Thus  far,  before  I  had  seen  "  the  Trial."  It  has  now  come 
to  hand.  Last  evening  I  glanced  over  its  pages.  I  confess 
myself  astounded.  I  had  actually  stopped  the  pen  above,  for 
fear  I  should  mete  out  to  the  six  bishops  a  measure  harder 
than  they  deserved.  But  the  indignation  which  lighted  down 
upon  them  from  the  hands  of  Justice  and  Truth  in  "  the  Con- 
spiracy Unravelled,"  now  seems  to  me,  (and  I  have  slept  over 
the  matter,  and  write  in  the  first  coolness  of  the  morning.)  far 
less  than  their  sins  have  merited.  How  far  a  more  intimate 
knowledge  of  such  Jesuitical  unrighteousness  will  carry  me 
before  sunset,  I  cannot  now  tell.  But  the  present  aspect  of 
the  utter  abominations  which  that  trial  discloses,  compared 
with  a  view  of  the  unrepentant,  hypocritical  and  sanctimoni- 
ous pleadings  of  he  hardened  offender,  and  all  these  placed 
by  the  side  of  the  barefaced  and  reckless,  justice-perverting 
and  heaven-daring  "  conspiracy"  of  those  six  party-loving  and 
truth-eschewing  judges,  would  make  men  tremble  for  the 
Church,  were  she  not  built  upon  the  Master's  promise,  as  upon 
the  unshaken  Rock.  But  what  will  their  dioceses  doom  ?  and 
how  shall  these  six  bishops  escape  that  thunder-storm  of 
righteous  indignation  which  now  already  blackens  the  hori- 
zon and  lowers  and  growls  portentously  in  the  distance !  I 
dare  not  trust  myself  on  this  subject ;  but  turning  them  over 
to  the  deserved  chastisement  which  they  and  their  priestly  and 
laic  coadjutors  will  surely  receive  at  the  hands  of  the  world, 
I  would  recommend  to  their  notice  the  following  extract,  that 
they  may  be  forewarned  as  to  what  may  yet  ensue. 

Here  goeth  then,  the  hermit  of  Engaddi  with  his  flail. 
"  4 1  am  Theodorick  of  Engaddi  ;  I  am  the  walker  of  the  des- 
ert— I  am  friend  of  the  cross,  and  flail  of  all  infidels,  heretics 
and  devil- worshippers.  Avoid  ye,  avoid  ye !  Down  with  Ma- 
hound,  Termagaunt,  and  all  their  adherents  !'  So  saying,  he 
pulled  from  under  his  shaggy  garment  a  sort  of  flail,  or  jointed 
club,  bound  with  iron,  which  he  brandished  round  his  head  with 
singular  dexterity,  and  after  swinging  his  flail  in  every  direc- 
tion, apparently  quite  reckless  whether  it  encountered  the  head 
of  either  of  his  companions,  finally  showed  his  own  strength, 
and  the  soundness  of  the  weapon  (Truth)  by  striking  into 
fragments  a  large  stone  which  lay  near  him." — {Talisman.) 

We  are  no  Papists,  and  see  plainly  that  the  Bishops  in  this 
country  begin  to  require  the  bridle,  the  bit  and  the  curb. 

Let  every  presbyter,  deacon  and  layman  remember  what  a 
primitive  Bishop  was,  and  what  some  of  our  modern  Bishops 
would  gladly  be ;  and  let  some  one  or  two  Bishops  bear  in 


12  mr.  Richmond's  reply,  etc. 

mind  that  a  Higher  Power  may  yet  speak  to  them  as  He  did 
to  Sennacherib,  king  of  Assyria,  "  I  will  put  my  hook  in  thy 
nose,  and  my  bridle  in  thy  lips,  and  I  will  turn  thee  back  by 
the  way  by  which  thou  earnest." 


Let  us  turn  once  more  to  the  metropolitan  "  statement." 
The  next  charge  is  contained  in  this  period:  "  He  (Mr.  Rich- 
mond) was  now  employed  for  my  destruction,  and  told  a 
clerical  brother,  the  Rev.  Mr. Van  Bokkelen,  that  his  expenses 
were  paid."  Again,  "An  agent  from  another  distant  state 
was  employed,"  &c. 

Now  here  are  two  charges,  and  I  will  take  my  oath  when 
desired  by  any  Bishop,  or  any  three  clergymen,  or  six  respec- 
table laymen,  that  they  are  unqualifiedly  false.  It  is  not 
necessary  for  me  to  do  this,  for  my  word  (/  am  not  -proved 
false  yet,)  is  as  good  with  gentlemen  as  an  oath.  As  to  the 
first  charge  that  I  was  an  " agent"  was  "  employed,"  I  have 
already,  before  it  appeared,  shewed,  by  the  details  in  "  the 
Conspiracy,"  etc.,  that  it  must  be  false  ;  and  every  body  who 
knows  anything  of  me,  knows  well  enough,  that  I  have  one 
besetting  sin  that  will  forever  hinder  me  from  being  any  body's 
"  agent,"  or  from  being  by  any  body  "  employed  ;"  and  that 
sin  is  pride,  which  first  half  emptied  heaven,  and  half  filled 
hell  ;  and  I  shall  have  more  than  enough  to  do,  during  the 
remnant  of  my  life,  to  quell  that  enemy  of  Lucifer,  son  of  the 
morning.  An  "  agent" — "  employed,"  quotha  !  Go  to  Rhode 
Island,  go  to  the  old  rock  where  seven  generations  of  my  fore- 
fathers lie  buried ;  ask  that  town  in  the  south  of  the  little  state, 
ask  old  Seconet  on  that  rock  where  the  power  of  King  Philip 
was  broken,  whether  they  ever  yet  heard  of  a  Richmond's 
being  "  employed"  ?  I  have  not  inherited  that  noble  name 
for  nothing ;  and  you  weigh  it  in  the  balance  with  a  Dutch- 
man's, (that  I  never  mention,)  and  see  whether  like  Brutus  and 
Caesar  they  will  "  become  the  mouth  as  well." 

I  cannot  tell  what  my  brother,  "the Rev.  Mr.  Van  Bokkelen," 
has  said  about  my  expenses,  but  I  know  one  sorrowful  fact, 
and  my  family  knows  it  to  their  self-denial,  that  my  expenses 
never  have  been  paid,  and  probably  never  will  be.  Now, 
whether  it  is  likely  that  I  would  state  an  untruth,  and  against 
myself  every  way,  I  leave  to  the  judges.  But  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Van  Bokkelen  does  not  seem  to  remember  some  things  so  well 
as  I  wish  he  did.    The  Rev.  Mr.  Peck  (and  some  other  per- 


T.IR.  RICHMOND  S   REPLY,  ETC. 


13 


sons,)  told  me  at  Dr.  Wainwright's,  before  that  most  excellent, 
valuable  and  kind  friend  of  mine,  whose  unwavering  steadi- 
ness in  reproving  me,  especially  where  he  thought  I  deserved 
it,  I  here  gratefully  acknowledge,  and  before  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Price,  that  Mr.  Van  Bokkelen  said  that  I  had  misrepresented 
him  in  my  pamphlet.  I  immediately  replied,  And  am  ready  to 
redeem  my  pledge,  that  I  would  go  to  the  deck  of  that  steam- 
boat and  shew  exactly  where  we  stood  facing  each  other, 
under  a  kind  of  roof,  midships,  but  a  little  nearer  to  one  side 
than  the  other,  and  state  the  exact  words.  After  Mr.  V.  B. 
had  talked  with  Dr.  Taylor,  and  Dr.  T.  had  left  the  boat,  I 
said  to  him  "  You  are  going  on  about  Dr.  Hawks,  I  suppose  ?" 
He  assented,  and  I  told  why  I  was  going  ;  he  said  exactly,  "can 
we  help  each  other  V  I  said  "  assist"  in  the  pamphlet ;  using 
the  Latin  instead  of  the  stronger  old  Saxon  word  which  he  em- 
ployed for  the  same  idea.  Pamphlet,  p.  11.  just  before  this 
remark,  I  have  said,  "  I  give  the  substance  of  remarks,  obser- 
vations &c,  and  often  the  words."  Now  my  enemies  are 
welcome  to  make  as  much  as  they  can  of  this  discrepancy,  for 
it  is  all  the  poor  twaddlers  have  ;  and  it  is  about  as  near  as 
they  will  ever  get  to  making  the  truth  contradict  herself.  Have 
they  really  yet  to  learn  that  truth  and  truth  run  parallel,  like 
the  two  sides  of  a  rail-road,  and  not  like  the  Rev.  John 
Dowdney's  testimony.  When  he  sees  my  letter  about  what 
I  said  in  '  the  trap'  (Episcopal  Depository)  "  before  witnesses, 
&c,  in  the  Express*  of  Thursday  morning,  Jan.  30th,  he  will 
please  compare  his  testimony  with  his  testimony,  and  settle 

*To  the  Editors  of  the  Express. — Providence,  January  27th,  1845. 
In  the  Express  of  the  18th  inst.,  (which  I  have  only  this  moment  seen,) 
it  is  stated,  by  " a  Fellow  Churchman."  that  I  "solemnly  denied,"  in 
the  presence  of  witnesses  at  the  Episcopal  Depository,  what  in  the 
pamphlet  ("Conspiracy,"  &c.,)  I  had  stated.  Now,  I  "solemnly  deny" 
any  such  solemn  denial.  I  knew  very  well  that  a  letter  sent  to  me  from 
that  Depository  was  a  sort  of  trap  ;  but  not  being  afraid  of  traps,  (fori  tell 
the  truth,  and  she  always  agrees  with  herself,)  I  went  to  the  "Depository," 
and  beholding  the  witnesses  sitting,  one  of  whom  was  the  Rev.  John 
Dovvdney,  I  knew  immediately  that  the  object  was  to  catch  me  in  my 
words.  If  ever,  therefore,  I  should  have  been  guarded  in  my  words.  But 
Truth  does  not  require  her  words  to  be  guarded.  I  did  tell  Mr.  Butler 
that  "if  he  would  go  aside  with  me  I  would  tell  him  privately  what  I  saw 
in  the  carriage."  Was  this  "  denying"  what  I  have  stated  in  the  Pamph- 
let? 

All  who  attack  me  will  be  so  kind  as  to  send  me  a  copy  of  the  paper, 
for  I  have  too  much  to  do,  to  run  about  after  the  abuse,  though  I  like  it, 
when  it  comes. 

For  the  information  of  the  curious  in  such  matters,  I  will  simply  addt 
that  many  "  nice"  statements  and  inuendoes  made  lately,  anonyTnoushj, 


14 


mr.  Richmond's  reply,  £tc. 


that  account,  before  he  attempts  me.  or  the  world  may  give 
him  the  same  title  by  which  a  lawyer  on  his  own  side 
has  made  him  immortal. 

But  in  reference  to  "  my  expenses,"  I  will  now 

"  A  round,  unvarnished  tale  deliver," 

which  shall  forever  dissipate  the  smoke  that  my  sharp-eyed 
enemies  mistook  for  a  fire.  Let  them  now  then,  strive  to  "con- 
template the  orb  of  effulgent  veracity  without  the  medium  of 
artificial  opacity."  So  goes  down,  or  somehow  so,  Dr.  John- 
son's trip-hammer.  At  any  rate  his  Latinized  language  is 
sometimes  fully  as  absurd.  However,  I  am  making  a  little 
book  ready  about  the  gain  which  Englishmen  would  get  by 
speaking  and  writing  in  the  English  tongue.  So  to  the 
tale. — I  am  now 

"Nel  mezzo  del  cammin  di  nostra  vita ;" 

in  other  words,  I  have  a  year  since  informed  my  Bishop  that 
having  attained  middle  life,  and  having  hitherto  teen  "  kicked 
about,  and  paid  the  expenses  myself  to  boot,"  I  was  deter- 
mined to  lop  off  one  end  of  the  ma  tter,  and  to  continue  willing 
to  be  abused  as  before,  but  to  make  other  people  pay  the  ex- 
penses thereof.  This  is  the  sole  cause,  and  this  was  the 
alarming  change  in  the  phases  of  my  moon.  To  my 
family  now,  Sum  pius  iEneas.  It  was  then,  the  "pious" 
resolve  to  enforce  the  principle  which  I  had  adopted,  to 
grow  more  selfish,  (inquire  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Crocker,  who 
said,  on  the  occasion,  "  Well,  Richmond,  that  would  be 
something  new,")  which  made  me  tell  every  body  that  my 
"  expenses  should  be  paid ;"  but  here  the  good  Bishops  and 
the  rest  of  them  have  been  too  many  for  me ;  and  the  whole 
Court  actually  dispersed  to  the  four  winds,  without  passing 
any  resolve  on  the  subject,  without  requesting  me  to  send  in 
my  bill  ;  and  here  am  poor  I,  in  the  vocative,  minus  dol- 
lars  cents. 

will  perhaps  be  pleasantly  met,  by  the  fact  that  twenty-four  gentlemen  of 
the  City  of  New  York,  (of  whom  Gulian  C.  Verplanck,  Esq.,  was  one,) 
have  repeatedly  appointed  me  Chaplain  of  the  Lunatic  Asylum  at  Bloom- 
in  gd  ale. 

Now,  I  freely  and  merrily  confess  myself  crazy,  which  I  never  knew 
another  lunatic  willing  to  do.  All  lies  about  me  are  requested  not  to  be 
anonymous  ;  as  to  the  rest,  it  may  be  named  or  nameless. 

Yours  respectfully,       James  C.  Richmond. 

P.  S.  Messrs.  Editors,  if  you  do  not  publish  the  whole,  please  (in 
justice,)  make  some  statement.  Pray  insert  the  fact  about  my  five  years 
appointment  as  Chapal  in  at  BJooasingdate,  <kc. 


MR.  RICHMOND'S  REPLY,  ETC. 


15 


There  is  but  one  more  charge  of  any  importance  in  the 
patriarchal  "  Statement ;"  and  at  first  sight,  it  looks  like  a 
serious  one.  But  it  will  soon  be  seen  that  all  things  are  also 
here  in  order.  "  The  elder,  Helen,  gives  one  (affidavit)  occupy- 
ing but  a  few  lines,  in  which  she  swears  that  every  word  of 
her  sister's  oath  is  true.  Jane's  oath,  however,  contained 
many  details  of  which  Helen  does  not  pretend  to  have  been 
an  eye-witness."  This  apparent  defect,  which  I  believed,  till 
now,  had  escaped  the  notice  even  of  the  acute  Mr.  Ogden, 
and  of  that  "  nice"  lawyer,  David  Graham,  has  been  discover- 
ed by  "  the  most  cunning  man  in  the  world,"  except  myself; 
for  I  saw  it  soon  after  the  affidavits  were  made,  and 
stated  it  to  the  young  ladies.  But  the  elder  had  undergone 
so  much  suffering  before  she  could  be  induced  to  see  a  notary 
at  all,  (and  this  is  the  reason  why  the  Mayor  did  not  witness 
both  affidavits,)  and  there  was  so  much  danger  apprehended 
by  her  sister  and  her  family,  lest  the  excitement  should  per- 
manently injure  her  health,  that  I  concluded  to  let  such  a  trifle 
pass  ;  but  observed,  "  were  it  a  legal  and  not  an  ecclesiastical 
court,  or  where  technicalities  have  more  place  than  justice,  I 
would  draw  the  papers  over  again."  But  remembering  that 
they  were  drafted  as  statements  simply  for  the  information  of 
the  Presenting  Bishops,  who,  if  satisfied  of  guilt,  could  make 
the  presentment  without  affidavits,  I  left  this  straw  afloat,  and 
the  result  shows  the  truth  of  the  old  adage.  As  if  a  young 
woman,  who  could  hardly  be  induced  by  her  former  pastor 
and  her  outraged  family  to  bear  testimony  to  the  truth,  would 
willingly  bear  witness  to  something  else  !  Yet  who  imagines 
that  she  intended  to  swear  to  more  than  her  own  part  of  the 
story,  (see  Trial,  p.  129,)  which  by  me  was  purposely  mingled 
with  her  sister's ;  because  at  that  time  the  elder  positively  re- 
fused to  expose  herself  by  giving  any  testimony.  It  was  when 
she  saw  the  Christian  resolution  of  her  younger  sister  that 
she  said,  "  Let  us  die  together."  Besides,  who  supposes  that 
two  Christian  sisters,  who  have  been  as  one  person  for  twenty- 
five  years,  and  have  spent  (I  speak  of 'facts,  as  their  pastor,) 
a  very  large  share  of  the  last  portion,  if  not  of  the 
whole  of  that  time,  in  works  of  the  truest  self-denial,  ani  of 
Christian  charity, — I  say  who  would  dare  imagine  that  any- 
thing sworn  to  by  such  a  sister,  (and  the  first  oath  too  of  their 
lives,)  could  in  the  other's  estimation  possibly  be  false  ? 
Mark  her  conscientiousness  and  strict  adherence  to  truth, 
when  she  insisted  on  my  adding  for  her  sake,  not  that  Mr. 
Dowdney  "  requested  us,"  (as  Jane  had  said,)  but  "  I  should 


16 


mr.  Richmond's  rktly,  etc, 


prefer  saying  that  Mr.  Dowdney  hinted  at  our  having  the 
Bishop  at  dinner."  (pp.  129,  130.)' 

So  let  all  thine  enemies,  O  Truth,  perish  !  As  to  the  poste- 
rior cordiality,  which  it  was  pretended  on  the  trial,  that 
one  of  these  ladies  (the  younger,  Miss  Jane,  for  as  to  Miss  R. 
she  was  wise  enough  to  remain  in  the  organ  loft,)  shewed  the 
consecrated  insulter  of  dames,  I  have  proof  on  hand  to  the  con- 
trary, which  is  worth  twenty  pages  of  the  testimony  of  the  Rev. 
John  Dowdney.  I  have  just  discovered  it,  among  my  old 
papers,  and  shall  not  ask  the  excellent  lady's  permission, 
(though  she  may  blame  me,)  for  defending  her  out  of  her  own 
mouth,  and  by  the  most  unexceptionable  of  all  witnesses,  a 
private  letter.  Now  observe,  in  May,  1843,  they  made  to  me 
the  sad  revelation,  and  I  find  the  following,  in  a  letter,  dated 
"  Echo  Hill,  Oct.  4,  1843. 

"Our  Right  Reverend  Father,  Pope  Benjamin  the  1st,  was 
at  Newburgh  while  we  were  ;  he  heard  of  it,  and  sent  me 
word,  (Helen  had  returned  home.)  he  was  going  to  call ;  for- 
tunately he  had  to  leave  for  Monticello  on  Monday,  at  3 
o'clock,  which  rendered  it  impossible  for  his  Holiness  to  call. 
What  do  you  think  of  that  ?  Did  you  ever  hear  of  such 
impudence  ?  I  certainly  would  have  run  into  one  of  the 
neighbors,  [with  whom  I  became  intimate  during  my  stay,] 

and  of  course  Mrs.  would  have  been  obliged  to  entertain 

him." 

There  it  is,  unsuspecting,  italics  and  all,  except  the  word 
with  before  whom,  in  the  brackets  ;  and  the  original,  with  her 
consent,  I  will  show  to  the  curious.  1  fancy  this  will  complete 
the  demolition  of  the  Rev.  John  Dowdney's  testimony. 

So  much  will  suffice  for  Pamphlet  No.  2  ;  but  let  it  be 
borne  in  mind,  that  when  Jonathan's  mother  begged  him  to 
stand  up  like  a  man  and  fight  the  British,  he  dared  do  all  but 
fire.  One  gun  missing  fire  attracted  no  attention  from  his 
officer.  But  when  the  order,  "  ram  down  cartridges"  was 
given,  Johnny  was  compelled  to  do  like  the  rest ;  and  at  last 
went  home,  he  and  the  British  alike,  for  him,  unscathed,  but 
with  five  cartridges  in  his  gun.  "  Well,  my  boy,  did  you  fire 
at  the  British?"  "Mother,  1  dares 'nt"  "Not  dare  fire  at 
the  British?  Give  me  the  gun,"  and  so  discharging  it,  the 
natural  rebounding  threw  the  brave  dame  across  the  room. 
Nothing  daunted,  when  her  hopeful  son  cried  out,  "  Mother, 
are  you  alive  ?"  she  seized  the  gun  again.  "  O,  mother," 
said  Johnny,  "pray  don't  fire  again,  for  there  are  four  more 
cartridges  in  the  gun  /" 

Cedar  Grove,  Providence,  January  31,  1845. 


f 


